A Cheltenham man has been spared jail after the prosecution dropped a charge which would have landed him with a mandatory three year sentence.

At Gloucester Crown Court, James Orton, 31, of Rowanfield Road, was accused of breaking into a house in Brockhampton Lane and attempting to burgle a property in Manor Road on the same night.

But after he admitted the attempted burglary the Crown did not proceed with the Brockhampton Lane allegation - meaning that Orton did not fall foul of the 'three strikes and you're out' minimum sentence for offenders who have committed two previous burglaries.

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Judge Jamie Tabor QC sentenced him to a 15 month jail term, but suspended it for two years, ordering him to attend a 'thinking skills programme' and to engage with a probation worker in 20 rehabilitation activity sessions.

Orton was also made subject to an electronically monitored home curfew, every night for eight months between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

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Orton's defence lawyer, Steven Young, outlined how the case had developed since June.

"In all, he was charged with three offences arising from the June 26," Mr Young said.

"He was arrested just before midnight, and charged with two burglaries and being in possession of twelve 'wraps' of heroin.

"He appeared before Cheltenham Magistrates Court on June 28 in custody.

He pleaded guilty to the possession of heroin.

"The magistrates activated a 12-week suspended sentence that he was subject to in full and added two weeks custody for possessing a class A drug. This gave a total of 14 weeks custody, and he began to serve that sentence.

"If he had been convicted of a domestic burglary, he would have been looking at 'three strikes'"

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Mr Young added. That meant that Orton faced a potential minimum sentence of three years custody.

Mr Young said that by the August 16, Orton had served the sentence imposed by the magistrates, and was then held on remand for the burglary allegations, before appearing at the Crown Court on August 29.

The Crown Prosecution Service, then "offered no evidence" on the domestic burglary, and Orton faced a single allegation of attempted burglary.